Means for dispensing the contents of collapsible tubes



FeB. 17, 1959' c. J. NELSON 2,878,888

MEANS FOR DISPENSING THE CONTENTS OF COLLAPSIBLE! TUBES Filed March 12,1957 F162]; no.2. rm;

INVENTOR CLIFFORD a. NELSON ATTORNEY United States Patent MEANS FORDISPENSING THE CONTENTS OF COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Clifford J. Nelson,Washington, D. C.

Application -Ma'rch 12, 1957, Serial No. 645,458

4 Claims. Cl. 222-99 This invention relates to the art of dispensing andmore particularly to a collapsible tube having improved means thereonfor dispensing the contents thereof.

The problem of dispensing collapsible tubes, such as toothpaste tubes orthe like, is well known and one which is confronted daily by a largeportion of the population ofthis country. The present tubes, as forexample, the tubes containing toothpaste or the like, are not providedwith any positive means for dispensing the contents thereof, but rely onthe user to pinch or collapse the tube manually. It is well known thatthis procedure soon causes the tube to become bent anddistortedintermediate its ends and these bends or distortions oftenresult in breaks in the wall of the tube, resulting in a dispensing ofthe contents through the breaks. Moreover, where the contents of acollapsible tube are dispensed in this mannor, there is considerablematerial left in the" tube when dispensing is no longer possible.

There have been many proposals to provide a'me'ans for orderly andprogressively'rolling up the'coll aps'ed end' of a collapsible tube soas t'o'dispense the contents thereof as desired. These proposals havenot been adopted, either because they have proven't'oo expensive andcomplicated, or'have required expensive modifications'ofthe collapsibletube and cap itself. One problem in this regard is that the provision ofa turning or Winding means ad ajce'nt the collapsible end of thetubeneeessitates the addition of permanent lateral structure to the tubeso that the same cannot fit" within the close tolerance containerwatchare now in=wide use'.

Accordingly, it is air object of the present invention to provide an imroved? means for'-disper'isin thecontents of a collapsible tube whichdoes not neeesfsit'at'e the additiom permanent lateral structure tothecollapsed e'nd ofl tli'etube soth 'a't the s'a'me canfit'witfiin a closetolerance container; I

i Stilli another object ofthepresent invention'is the-pro; vision of: animproved means for winding the. collapsed? end-of a collapsible tube so:as to dispense the contents thereofll which. means includes an improvedspindle arranged to" be mounted transversely on the collapsed end of thecollapsible tube so that the latter can be wound therearound andimproved means arranged to be iegriiovablTy carried th cap ofithe:-tub'e' so that it mety be-removed: therefronn and engaged? with thespindle to effect" turningrtliereofif 7 i l Still: anothen objectoftheFpreeht inventioj'n is the prov-l sion of a collapsible: tubeof'the-type; desciibed hav'mg improved'means" thereon for winding: thecollapsed end thereofso as'to dispensethe;coi1tents of the tube, whichis simplein construction, easy: to'operatearid economical tomanufa-cture. Y

Still another objectof the-present-inven'tioir is to 'incorporate. themeans withimthe syrnmetrical linesof the-tube preservingtheattractiveness thereof? and to provide the indeedrinvite, :therproper.collapsingiof the? tube;

user: of tube 7 contents with such: means as will. encour'age,

Patented Feb. 17, 1959 detailed description and appended claims. I

The invention may best be understood with reference to" the accompanyingdrawings wherein an illustrative embodiment is shown.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a collapsible tube embodying theprinciples of the present invention and showing the same in thecondition in which it is packed;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the turning knob of thepresent inventionin its operative position for winding the collapsed endof the tube, with the cap mounted on the dispe'nsinghead of the tube;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view showing the tube in a position tohave the contents thereof dispensed by turning the winding knob;

Figure 4 is an enlarged exploded cross-sectional view' taken along theline 44 of Figure l, showing-the turning element in elevation;

Figures 5 and 6 are progressive fragmentary perspective viewsillustrating the manner in which the winding spindle is secured to thecollapsed end of the tube; and

Figure 7 is a component perspective view illustrating another embodimentof'the present invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is shown acollapsible tube 1'0 of conventional construction, such as is utilizedfor dispensing toothpaste, paint and the like. The tube includes theusual tubularbody, having a dispensing head 12 formed on one end thereofand the opposite end collapsed, as indicated at 14, so as to permanentlyclose the same after the tube has been filled. The dispensin'g'head 12is exteriorly threaded to receive a cap 1 6, which controls"thedispehsiri'g. It will) be understood that the above construction iscompletely conventional and forms no'part of the present invention,except insofar as it is modified and combined with the featuresthereofhereinafter described to form an operative combination;

The present invention is more particularly concerned with an improvedmeans for dispensing the contents of the collapsible tube. To" this end,there'is provided an elongated spindlelfihaving a longitudinallyextending sloflti'formed therein and extendihgfrornone end thereof toa-point spaced inwardly from -the" opposie end thereof. The spindle 18is arranged to be mounted in transversely disposed relation on thecollapsedend 14 of the tube" 10 and'ha's' a" length which'is not greaterthan' thewidth of disposed wholly within the cutout portion 22 sothat-the" stem 26 may be engaged. As shown in Figured, it wilf be noted"that the aperture 30 extends longitudinally downwardly from the top of,thewiap I6butterminates short' of the interior thereof. The turning?element 28 may be of any suitable 'shape,'. but preferably is formed so'as'to p'rovide; a smooth extension of the" upper end asraese of the cap.It will also be noted thatthe turning element is not of substantiallongitudinal dimension so that it does not appreciably add to theoverall length of the collapsibletube.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 7, there is shown a modifiedform of the invention in which the cap 16', and the slotted spindle 18are provided with elongated apertures 32 and 34 respectively whichcorrespond in shape to the shape of a bar 36 projecting from a turningelement 28'. As shown, the bar is rectangular in cross-sectionalconfiguration and of substantially uniform area throughout.

It will be understood that the exact projection-aperture structureutilized for engaging the turning element alternatively within the capand the spindle may take many forms, the threaded stem 26 and bar 36merely constituting two preferred examples of constructions that may beemployed. In addition, the slot 20 may be formed in the intermediateportion of the spindle and the collapsed end of the tube provided withspaced cutout portions on each side thereof so that the portionintermediate the cutouts may be inserted within the slot. In thismanner, an aperture may be formed in both ends of the spindle toalternatively receive the projection of the turning element. 7

In operation, the spindle and turning element of the present inventionare mounted on the collapsible tube in the manner indicated in Figure 1.That is, the collapsed end of the tube is rolled or crimped around thespindle in the manner shown in Figures and 6 and the turning element 28is removably secured to the cap 16 by engagement of the threaded stem 26within the threaded aperture 30. When it is desired to dispense thecontents of the tube 10, the turning element 28 is removed from the capby unscrewing the stem 26 from the aperture 30 and inserting it in thethreaded aperture 24 at the end of the spindle 18, as shown in Figure 2.Next, the cap 16 is removed and the turning element manually moved so asto wind the collapsed end around the spindle which, in turn, effectsdispensing of the contents of the tube outwardly through the uncappeddispensing head 12, as shown in Figure 3. The operation of theembodiment shown in Figure 7 is identical to that described above and itwill be understood that the turning element 28' in this embodiment maybe removed and inserted in the openings 32 and 34 by simple rectilinearmotion, rather than in a turning motion, as is necessary with thethreaded stem 26.

In this regard, it will be noted that the diameter of the turningelement 28 is greater than the diameter of the adjacent portion of thecap so as to present a flange above the cap which may be easily graspedto effect the rectilinear motion necessary to remove the turning elementfrom the cap. The threaded stern arrangement shown in Figures 1-6 lendsitself more readily to the formation of a turning element having anexterior surface flush with the adjacent exterior surface of the capsince removal can be effected solely by a turning movement. The flushthreaded stem arrangement is more desirable from the standpoint ofappearance, while the bar arrangement is more desirable from thestandpoint of simplicity of operation. Preferably, the diameter of theturning element is made sufficiently large so that it will be greaterthan the diameter of the collapsed end of the tube when the same isentirely rolled up. In this regard, the diameter of the spindle ispreferably made as small as possible commensurate with the strengthnecessary to perform its winding function. A slender spindle enhancesthe appearance of the tube and more nearly approximates the conventionalcrimped end.

It can thus be seen that there has been provided an improved means fordispensing the contents of a collapsible tube which has many distinctadvantages over the arrangements heretofore proposed. "Of primarysignificance, is the fact that the spindle of the present invention canbe readily mounted on the collapsed tube end 14 without adding peramentstructure, which extends laterally of the tube to thus increase itslateral dimension. This is important for the reason that the tubespresently utilized are arranged to fit closely within containers and theaddition of permanent lateral structure would require the utilization ofdifferently designed containers which would materially increase the costof the packaged commercial article. Another advantage of the presentinvention is that the turning element is carried by the collapsible tubecap in such a way as to constitute an extension thereof, which enhancesthe attractiveness of the commercial article. If desired, the cap andturning element may both be provided with matching ridges or knurling,as is well known. The'turning element may be readily removed from thecap and engaged with the spindle to effect a winding of the collapsedend of the tube.

The fact that the winding element is separate from the cap enables theuser to effect a Winding of the collapsed end of the tube, either whilethe cap is mounted on the dispensing head 12, as for example, when it isnecessary to force out creases which have accidently been formed in thetube wall, or, alternatively, the cap may be removed in the normaldispensing operation. Once the turning element has been mounted on thespindle, the cap may be simply removed when it is desired to dispensethe contents from the tube. The dispensing is orderly and progressivelyaccomplished by the winding of the collapsed end around the spindle bythe turning of the element 28. This insures that all of the contentswithin the tube will be progressively squeezed out so that a minimum ofresidue material remains within the tube when dispensing is no longerpossible.

The fact that the present arrangement enables the collapsed tube end tobe wound around the spindle with the cap mounted on the dispensing headof the tube enables the winding procedure to be accomplished with anequal pressure on the tube wall. That is, with the cap removed, there isno counterpressure from the dispensing head and, hence, winding with thecap removed may create an uneven pressure in the wound end. The equalpressure obtained when winding with the cap on creates an equal pressureon the tube wall, thus retaining the symmetry of the tube wall, which,in turn, serves to prevent creases and wrinkles therein, the primarycause of wall failure. This equal pressure winding also facilitatesuniform winding of the tube and serves to smooth out creases andwrinkles previously made through accident or other reasons.

It thus will be seen that the objects of this invention have been fullyand effectively accomplished. It will be realized, however, that theforegoing specific embodiment has been shown and described only for thepurpose of illustrating the principles of this invention and is subjectto extensive change without departure from such principles. ficationsencompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a collapsible tube having a collapsed end, a dispensing head onits opposite end and a cap removably mounted on said dispensing head forclosing the same; the improvement comprising means secured transverselyacross the collapsed end of said tube around which the latter can bewound, said means having a length not greater than the width of saidcollapsed tube end so as to permit said tube with said means securedthereto to fit within a close tolerance container arranged to fit saidtube without said meanssecured thereto, and means removably carried bysaid cap adapted to be connected with an end of said first-mentionedmeans for turning the latter-so as to wind the collapsed end of saidtube therearound either with said cap mounted on the dispensing head ofsaid tube or removed therefrom.

Therefore, this invention includes all modi-' 2. A device of thecharacter described comprising a collapsible tube having a dispensinghead mounted on one end thereof, the opposite end of said tube beingcollapsed and having a portion cut out of one side thereof, a spindlehaving a longitudinal slot extending therein receiving the collapsed endof the tube and including a portion disposed within the cut out portionof said collapsed tube end so that the latter can be rolled on saidspindle, said spindle portion having a longitudinally extending apertureformed therein, a cap removably mounted on said tube head, said caphaving an aperture extending longitudinally therein and terminatingshort of the interior thereof, and a spindle rotating element forming alongitudinal extension of said cap and having a projection extending insaid cap aperture and removable therefrom for insertion in said spindleaperture to turn the latter and hence roll the tube thereon.

3. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein said projection comprises athreaded stem and wherein said cap aperture and said spindle apertureare both threaded to receive said stem.

6 4. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein said projection comprises abar having an angular cross-sectional configuration and wherein said capaperture and said spindle aperture both have a shape corresponding tothe shape of said bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,426,846 Craig Aug. 12, 1922 1,776,387 Wolzmark Sept. 23, 19301,986,409 Redmer Jan. 1, 1935 1,990,929 Bonham Feb. 12, 1935 2,133,754Oscar Oct. 18, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 522,936 Great Britain June 20, 193914,055 Great Britain July 10, 1901 of 1901

